k e Cas Repor Th t

8/14/2019 k e Cas Repor Th t

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THECASKREPORT

by Pete Brown

Helping British pubs beat the recession

2009-10


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The CasK Report 2009-10 BRITAINS NATIONAL DRINK

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The Cask Report is the definitive analysis of the state of Britains caskbeer market, a reference document providing:

- Recent market data, trends and developments.

- Detailed analysis of the cask ale consumer and why they are more

valuable to pubs than other drinkers.

- Case studies of successful cask ale pubs demonstrating that Britains

national drink is a key tool in beating the recession.

The report is backed by all major bodies in the cask ale industry

but written by an independent author, using independent third-party

data to ensure complete rigour and objectivity.

It gives publicans and pub companies everything they need

to know about how to stock, serve, and make a profit fromBritains national drink.

Whatsinaname?

Caskale,Caskbee

r,Realale,Hand-pu

lledale

Cask-conditioned

beer

Britainsnational

drinkisaunique,

traditional

product.Whereas

mostbeerispaste

urisedand/or

lteredorl

ongershellie,r

eal/caskale/beer

is

reshbeerwithliveyeastinthe

cask.Itsundergo

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aslow,secondary

ermentationthatkeepsitinpeak

condition,ensurin

gdepthofavour

andanatural

carbonation.

Itsservedinacas

kratherthanapr

essurizedkeg,

normallydispense

dbygravityrom

abeerengine

(handpull)orstr

aightromthecas

kbehindthebar.

TheCampaignor

RealAle(CAMRA)n

ameditrealalein

the1970stodier

entiateitrommas

s-produced,poor

qualitykegbeers

.

Theresnoonebod

yrepresentingth

ecaskindustry,an

d

noonetermorth

ebeer.Thisreport

usesdierent

termsinterchang

eably,refectingth

ediversityand

idiosyncrasyo

theproduct.


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5

The Headlines:Cask outperforming any other draught beer

Cask Beer at a Glance

- Cask ale creates a unique value chain

in pubs that stock it well. It attracts

more drinkers to a pub, who visit

pubs more oten than other drinkers,

with a higher spend per visit than

other drinkers (p18).

- Growth in cask beer volume and value

in 2009 to date, ollowing slight decline

in 2008 (p10).

- Growth long-term in casks share

o total beer (p11).

- Growth in number o people drinkingcask ale. Doubling in number o emale

drinkers year-on-year (p22).

2007-08 2008-09

Market volume 2.467m barrels 2.386m barrels

Volume share o total beer 7.0% 7.6%

Number o regular drinkers 7.4 million 7.9 million

Number o occasional drinkers 640,000 654,000

Total number o drinkers 8.1 million 8.5 million

Number o breweries in Britain 589 660

- In volume terms, cask ale is

outperorming not just all other

draught beers, but almost every other

drink on the bar, including wine and

most spirits (p6).

- Cask beer is thereore helping pubs

beat the recession. Theres strong

evidence that cask beer pubs are

ar less likely to close than pubs

generally (p16).


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6

The Economy

Meltdown at the Local?

2009 has been dominated by the news

that 52 pubs are closing every week. The

recession is having an obvious eect on

peoples spending habits, with people

going out ar less than they did. And the

Chancellors aggressive duty escalator on

beer - increasing tax on beer by 2% above

the rate o ination or our consecutive

years rom 2008 while other industries are

bailed out by taxpayers money - makes

brewing the only British industry to be

punished during the recession rather thanbeing given government help. Added to

this, the ever-increasing price dierential

between on- and o-trade, increasing red

tape or landlords and the threat o ever

more draconian legislation have combined

to ensure that whatever downturn the rest

o the retail sector eels, pubs eel it harder.

There are success stories. And there is a

view that were simply seeing bad pubs

close more quickly than they otherwise

would. But no one can deny that trading

conditions are tougher than theyve been

or sixty years.

Cask ale

Bucking the trend

Two years ago, we reported that cask

ale wasnt in the terminal decline many

believed it to be. Last year we showed it

was outperorming other beer categories.

This year we can go urther and say that

cask ale is outperorming most drinks on

the bar, including wine and vodka. In the

o-trade, premium bottled ales, particularlybottle-conditioned beer - the closest thing

to cask beer outside the pub - continues to

show strong annual growth, despite being

priced at a premium to heavily discounted

lager brands. Year-on-year, cask ale is still

showing slight decline. But in 2009 to date

it is in net volume and value growth - much

earlier than we have previously predicted.

Bottled premium ale is the only o-trade

beer category in growth, with a record

number o brands available.

The Year in Review

The worst year for pubs in living memory?

Maybe, but its not all doom and gloom.

With 52 outlets a week closing and widespread media coverage of the

death of the British pub, there are also strong indicators suggesting

that the market for flavorful, lovingly crafted beer is more robust than

it has been for years.


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Beer Festivals and events

Grassroots activity shows burgeoning

consumer interest

Augusts Great British Beer Festival saw

records broken: on the frst day, CAMRA

announced its membership had broken the

100,000 barrier or the frst time. With an

increase o almost 10% in the last twelve

months, membership has doubled over

the last decade. At the end o the week

CAMRA announced that, ater a slight

dip in attendance in 2008, 2009 had seen

record attendance o 64,000, again up

10% year on year. And its not just the bigestival in Earls Court thats seeing growth.

In addition, there are now over 150 local

and regional beer estivals around the UK,

with an estimated total attendance o over

hal a million. Many o these now sell out

in advance, something that was rare a

ew years ago. A growing number o pubs

are organizing their own beer estivals

and seeing a huge increase in turnover

as a result. Cask beer is also increasingly

eaturing in and selling well at music

estivals, ood estivals and sporting events.


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Cask Ale Week

The pub industry celebrates Britains

national drink

Easter 2009 saw Cask Marque organise the

frst national Cask Ale Week. Running rom

6th to 12th April, it saw over 7000 pubs take

part in a nationwide programme o activities

to get people into pubs and to try cask ale,

including a mass wave o brewery open

days, a emALE day ocusing on women

and cask ale, and an attempt to break the

record or the worlds biggest toast. Pubs

that took part saw not only a 27% increase

in the amount o cask ale they sold versus

non-participating pubs, but also growthin premium lager and stout. The event drove

turnover, and premiumised the product

mix on the bar. Cask Ale Week will run

again rom 29th March to 5th April 2010.

Breweries

Structure o cask ale market turns

broader trends on their head

The our major multinationals that dominate

the British beer market continue to disinvest

in their ale brands, retrenching to the

regions they came rom decades ago, and

almost becoming local brands once more.

But large regional breweries are investing

heavily and thriving as a result, and small

crat brewers are springing up in ever

larger numbers. There are, inevitably, some

brewers alling casualty to the recession.

But 71 new breweries have opened in

the UK in the last year, bringing the total

number o British breweries to 660 - the

highest since the 1940s.

The Media

Mixed messages but a denite growth

in interest

Ater 19 years in which there was no

coverage o British beer on TV, late 2008

and early 2009 saw not one but two national

TV series about beer - Oz and James

Drink to Britain and Neil Morrisseys Risky

Business - plus a major regional series,

Yorkshires Perect Pint. Neil Morrisseysventure with partner Richard Fox has seen

the pair create a new beer brand specifcally

designed to broaden the appeal o cask

ale. Oz Clarke and James May covered

more than real ale, but gave exposure to

many regional and local breweries as well

as educating an audience o millions on the

ingredients and processes behind natural,

quality beer. More generally speaking,

while the news media loves a negative

story about the drinks industry, they are

also increasingly interested in good news:

the launch o the Good Beer Guide 2010

in September garnered an unprecedented

amount o positive coverage across TV,

radio and press. Theres a renewed broader

interest in cask beer - and its proving it can

attract new drinkers.

The Year in Reviewcontinued


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The Market for Cask Beer

While it has been a strong performer relative to other beer for the

last few years, no one expected cask ale to return to growth in 2009 -

especially in the grip of the worst recession for generations.

But if current trends continue, 2009 will be the year cask ale returned

to positive volume and value growth.

Cask ale: the UKs best-perorming

draught beer

- Cask ale is increasing its share not

just o the total ale market, but total on-

trade beer - up rom 12% in 2007

to 13.5% in 2008.(1)

- 2008 may have been a bad year or beer

- on-trade volumes were down 8.7% -

but over the same period, cask ale

declined by only 3.3%.(2)

- In 2009 so ar, the decline in on-trade

beer volumes appears to be stabilizing.(The second quarter o 2009 saw a

decline o 4.5%, compared with a 6.3%

decline in the frst quarter).(3) But between

January and June 2009 cask ale volume

grew by 1%, with growth in our out o the

six months.

- This means cask ale is outperorming

almost every other drink on the bar. In the

year to May 2009, premium lager in the

on-trade declined by 15%, standard lager

by 8%. Wine in the on trade ell by 9%,

spirits by 8%.(4)

- Cask ale is increasingly recognised as

the star perormer in a difcult on-trade

market. When asked i any one drinks

category is perorming better than the

rest, 42% o tenant publicans answered

cask beer. Standard lager was a distant

second with 13%.(5)

- Unsurprisingly, distribution o cask ale in

UK pubs is increasing, with over 3,000

new pubs stocking cask in the twelve

months to June 2009.(6)

- Most decline is coming rom large

multinational breweries as they retrench

and ocus on core lager business.

When the growth o regional, local and

independent breweries overtakes the

decline o the multinationals, cask ale will

return to long-term sustained growth.

(1) Nielsen Cask Ale Report(2) Source: BBPA Annual Barrelage Survey, adjusted toinclude estimate o microbrewery volumes.

(3) Source: BBPA beer barometer.(4) Nielsen Drinks Market Strategic Overview - on-trade(5) CGA Research in the Morning Advertiser, July 2009(6) CGA Strategy


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Volume: much better than it could

have been

The 3.3% decline in total cask ale volume

is a slight deterioration on the 2007 fgure.

But in the context o a terrible year or beer,

it could have been much worse. With the

punitive beer duty escalator, record pub

closures, record price dierences between

on- and o-trade and people reining in their

spending due to recession, cask beer has

proved more resilient than any other beer.

Only cider is outperorming it on the bar.

Cask ale is thereore increasing its shareo total beer (ie stout, lager, cask beer, keg

and smoothow beer). It now represents:

- 34.5% o all ale in the on-trade

- 13.5% o UK all draught on-trade beer

(versus 12% in 2007, 11% in 2006)

- 7.6% o total UK beer (versus 7.0%

in 2007)

In Enterprise Inns, cask ale now accounts

or 51% o all ale, with keg at 49%. We will

soon see this played out across the rest o

the British on-trade.

Value outpaces volume

Cask ale showed a small value decline

o 2% overall - smaller than the volume

decline, because premium ales are doing

particularly well.

Cask ale thereore increased its value share

o total ale rom 30.4% in March 2008

to 31.5% in March 2009. Neilsen estimates

that the cask ale market now has a retail

value o 1.7 billion.

The small decline in value was almost

entirely due to the shrinking o themultinational brewers brands, who saw

an 11% drop in the year to March 2009,

whereas value o regional, local and

independent brewers remained at. Once

we are able to add in the adjustment rom

Customs and Excise fgures (see ootnote

below) it seems certain that, like last year,

this fgure will actually show small growth.


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The Market for Cask Beer continued


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Winners and losersMost o the small overall decline has, once

more, come rom the our multinational

brewers who dominate the British lager

market - their volumes are down 10%

in the year to March 2009 as they continue

to ocus on building national and

international lager brands, and their ales

revert to areas o regional strength.

As these big brands diminish, two thingsare happening:

- The next tier o brands - large regionals

such as Adnams Bitter, Bombardier,

Greene King IPA, London Pride, Marstons

Pedigree and Deuchars IPA - grow to fll

the void. Many o these brands are seeing

strong year-on-year growth.

- Giants are replaced by minnows - thenumber o small breweries continues to

grow strongly each year, with 71 new

breweries opening in the last year

alone. On average, members

o the Society o Independent

Brewers (SIBA) are reporting

10.7% annual growth.

Regional, local and independent brewersnow account or 78% o cask ale volume

and 81% o value.

This success means that regional, local

and independent brewers continue to grow

their share o total ale, now accounting or

over hal the market - a great achievement

considering how big some mainstream

smoothow brands still remain.

Looking at the social trends driving trial and

adoption o cask ale among more people,

regional and local cask ale brewers have the

potential to do more than mop up volume

rom the shrinking giants. When the rate

o their growth passes the rate o decline

o the multinationals, the market will return

to steady long-term growth.

13

Sep07Mar08

Sep08Mar09

49.6

50.4

50.1

49.9

50.6

49.4

51.1

48.9

Multinat

ional

brewers

Valueshareo

ftotal

Regional/

Local/

independent

brewers


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RegionalityCask ale is a very regional product - local

origins and identity orm a strong part

o its appeal. This does mean that cask

perormance varies markedly by region.

Cask ale has a much stronger perormance

in the south-east o England. In some

regions it is underperorming, and actually

losing share. But strong growth in London

- and in Scotland which, or a small basea ew years ago is seeing very strong,

sustained volume and value growth in cask

ale - mean net share growth overall.

Distribution

- Cask ale distribution in UK on-licensed

premises increased rom 48% in June

2008 to 51% in June 2009.

- Based on an estimated market o 105,000on-licensed premises, this means a net

increase o approximately 3000 pubs

stocking cask ale - in a market where

approximately 2500 pubs have closed in

the last year.

- This reects signifcant investment

in cask ale rom managed houses,

such as M&B and Tattershall Castle,

who have reinvested across their

estates, and sustained new investmentin cask ale rom groups such as

Wetherspoons, Marstons Inns and

Taverns, and Greene King.

A brie word about the o-trade

Cask ale is a unique product in that it is

only available in pubs - or other venues that

have the acilities to keep casks o living,

breathing beer in good condition.

But most leading cask ale brands havepremium bottled variants - theyre

dierent beers in that they are not cask or

bottle conditioned, but they share some

characteristics and are recognisable to

drinkers as the same brands.

Premium bottled ales have been

sustained in growth or almost ten years,

and 2008 was no exception - volumes

increased by 5%.

Within premium bottled beers, the closest

thing to cask ale is bottle-conditioned ale,

where yeast is added to the bottle or

a secondary ermentation. Bottle-

conditioned beers are growing strongly,

driven in part by CAMRAs campaign

promoting them as real ale in a bottle.

This success is particularly noteworthy

because whereas real ale is priced cheaper

than lager in pubs, in the o-trade it is

signifcantly more expensive because it is

price-promoted nowhere near as heavily as

lager is - and yet its growing, while lager is

in decline.

O-trade premium bottled ale perormance

demonstrates that ale drinkers are preparedto pay a premium or beers with quality,

avour depth and integrity - something the

on-trade should perhaps take on board.

A word about the fgures: BBPA and Nielsen fgures,used throughout this report, underestimate the volumecontribution o small crat brewers. BBPA and Nielsencompensate or this by adding in additional volume

estimated rom Customs and Excise receipts. However,these fgures are only available once a year. The wholeyear fgure or 2008 is thereore the most accurate fgure.Weve used some data or 2009 so ar, but these fguresunderestimate cask ales perormance. Because we areusing dierent sources, time periods o data sometimes vary.


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M&Bs businessisbuiltaroundm

anaged

houses,otenorganized inbrand

edchains.

In 2009,twoprominentchainsTo

byCarvery

andCrownCarvery,bothtraditio

nalpub

conceptspopularortheirSund

aylunch

menussawanear-universalrol

loutocask

ale. Handpumpswerereintroduce

dto 131out

o133Tobypubs,and 106outo109Crownpubs.

100%rolloutwillbecompleted

bytheendo

theyearaternecessaryupgrad

eshavebeen

fnishedcaskbeerhasnotbeen

introduced

wherethepubdidnthavetherig

htacilities

to guaranteeconsistentquality

,but

thegroupis investinginthenec

essary

improvementstobringeverysing

leoutletup

toscratch.

AllmanagershavebeenonaBIIt

raining

programme,andM&BsBeerQual

ityManager,

RachelBoyd,saysthataminimum

oone

personperpubwillbetrainedto

ABCQ

standardbytheendotheyear.

Already,

manypubsareCaskMarqueaccre

dited. The

aimistohave120Tobypubsand80

Crownpubs

accreditedbytheendoOctober

,withthe

ultimateaimo gaining100%accr

editation

throughouttheestate.Wehada

bigpushon

training inconjunctionwiththe

suppliers

whowere supportiveinnotjustt

hetraining,

butinstallationsand

marketing,saysBoyd.

Fromthemanagerspointoviewtheyenjoy

beingincontrolotheproducta

sitneeds

specialattentionandthisgives

themgreat

pride. The eedbackIhavereceiv

edhasbeen

extremelypositive.

Mostpubshaveanationallyreco

gnised

brandandalocalhero,withath

irdpump

readytobeusedasbusinessbuil

dsand

businessis building. DavidMcCon

nell,

managerotheTobyCarvery,Edin

burghWest,

saysOurreputationisspreadin

gandmany

customerscomeintothebarkno

wingthatwe

serveagreatqualitypinttimea

tertime.


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Cask Beer and Profitable Pubs

Its great for brewers that cask ale is performing well. But what does

it mean for the publican? With a lower retail price and margin than

other beers, and extra care and attention required to keep it well, while

consumers may want to drink it, whats the benefit in selling it? New

data reveals that cask ale drives profitability and therefore helps keep

pubs open.

The cask beer value chain

- Cask ale brings more drinkers into

the pub.

- Cask ale drinkers visit pubs more oten.

- Cask ale drinkers have a higher average

spend per pub visit.

- This increase in income isnt just in ale,

but in other drinks and in ood - cask ale

drives higher turnover overall.

- Cask ale pubs have thereore closedat a much slower rate than other pubs.

Cask beer keeps pubs open

The UK is currently witnessing record pub

closures - as many as 52 every week. In the

past year Britain has lost 5% o its pubs.

But within the pub market, there are still

those that are thriving. Anecdotally, weve

seen that pubs with a good range o well-

kept cask ales seem to be perorming

relatively well. Its not possible to obtain

comprehensive fgures that show the

rate o closure o cask ale pubs versus the

rate or those that dont. But we can look

at correlations.

Holding Cask Marque accreditation

is one way o looking at good quality cask

ale pubs. And it appears that such pubs

are closing at around hal the rate o pubs

on average:

Cask ale pubs closing at a much slower

rate than other pubs

Total Pub

Universe

Cask Marque

Pubs

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

% closuresin last 12months

Source:

Cask Marque/

CGA Strategy


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So why are cask ale pubs perormingbetter?

At frst glance it may seem counter-intuitive:

i you sell a greater proportion o your beer

at a lower margin how can you possibly

make more money?

The dynamic o more drinkers, visiting more

oten, and spending more money when they

do, creates a cask beer value chain.

1. Cask beer brings more drinkers into

the pub

Why? How? There are two key reasons:

Cask ale stockists are seen as better

quality pubs

Cask ale requires more care and attention

than other beers. A publican who makes

the eort to keep cask ale well oten makesthat extra eort across the board. There

is a broad correlation between good cask

ale and good ood, hygiene, etc. Drinkers

recognize this - the presence o cask ale on

the bar is oten a quick signifer that the pub

is a better pub generally, and is thereore

more likely to attract their custom.

Cask ale drinkers decide pub choice

in groupsCask ale drinkers are generally regarded by

their peers as knowing their beer and pubs.

They also know their drink is only available

in certain outlets, whereas their riends

drinking lager, wine, cider or spirits know

that most pubs will have an acceptable

selection. In mixed groups o drinkers,

thereore, the cask drinker is deerred to in

pub choice. Cask ale pubs sell more drinksacross the board - not just more cask ale.

2. Cask beer drinkers visit pubsmore oten

Cask ale is only available in pubs

Research shows that cutting down on visits

to the pub is the second most common

behavioural change in response to the

recession. (32% say they are going to the

pub less because o the recession: only

buying ewer clothes scores higher with

40%).(7) The experience o drinking wineat home is exactly the same as that in a

pub or bar - a bottle is opened and poured

into a wine glass. Beer is dierent - with

any beer, drinking rom a bottle or can is

less satisying than having a pint drawn on

draught. And cask ale is unique - it simply

isnt available outside pubs. Cask ale

drinkers have to go to the pub i they want

to drink cask beer.

Cask ale drinkers are more afuent

The section on the cask beer drinker (p22)

shows in detail that cask drinkers are

more auent than other drinkers, and less

anxious about the state o their fnances.

In this recession, they are thereore less

likely to eel the need to economise

as described above.

So cask ale drinkers visit pubs more oten

than non-drinkers - 40% o people who

have tried real ale go to the pub once

a week or more, versus only 23% o people

who have not tried real ale.

(7) Social Issues Research Centre: RecessionGeneration, July 2009


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Caskaledrinkersvisitpub

smoreoften

Havetried

caskale

havenever

triedcaskale0102030405060708090100 Lessthan

onceaweek

Onceamonth

2-3timesa

month

Onceaweek

ormore

Source:

CAMRA/CAPI

Omnibus2009

95%

24%

10%33%

85%

15%

13%

23%

20%

40%

3. Cask beer drinkers have a

higher average spend perpub visit

As already discussed, cask ale drinkers

are more auent than other drinkers.

This means they are more likely to spend

more - we can prove this by showing that

cask ale drinkers are more likely to

buy ood in pubs than other drinkers.

Cask ale is thereore a clear driver oootall - and proftability.

More drinkers in the pub, visiting the

pub more oten, mean higher total

beer turnover.

This, plus higher spend on ood etc,

means higher overall turnover.

TheBlacksmithsArms,StAlbansStAlbansishometoCAMRAHQ,andthereorehasapopulationconsistingothemostdiscerningaledrinkers.Fiteenyearsagot

heBlacksmithsArmswasagoodalehouse,butasuccessionobrandedconcepts,poorlyexecuted,letitwithnoaleandapoorreputationasapuboverall.CurrentownersTownandCitygavenewlandlordMarkFrazeralmostareereinintermsowhathewantedtodoandateronlyourmonthsincharge,apolicyoocusingoncaskaleisreapinghugerewards.

Markinstalledfvehandpumps,oeringachangingmixoestablishedandeclecticrealales.Casknowaccountsor30%otheproductmixandthatcontinuestorise.Beerestivalsinamarqueeinthegardenalsoprovidesomethingnewandspecial,drawingmorepeoplein.

Alemighthavealowerpricepointthanlager,saysMark,butitproftsusbecauseothevolume.Werebusyeverydayotheweeknow.Thealedrinkermightcomeinwithhiswie,andshemightbedrinkingsomethingelsebutitsallextrabusinessweotherwisewouldnthave.

Percentageeatingmealsinpubsonce

amonthormore

Daytime Evening0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90100

Caskdrinkers

Noncask

beerdrinkers

Source:

TGI

Jan-Dec2008

47%

70%

43%

60%


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Cask Beer and Tourism

Foreign visitors to the UK love British pubs and British beer.

As Britains national drink, cask ale has iconic status. Any pub in

a tourist area is simply missing a profit opportunity by not selling it.

- 13 million oreign tourists - 40% o

all visitors - visit a pub on their stay

in the UK.

- 55% o prospective tourists say visiting a

pub is something theyd like to do while in

the UK.

- And with more Britons holidaying at

home in 2009, 70% o those considering

a UK holiday say it is very likely they will

visit a pub.

The pub as the tourist hubIn May, VisitEngland launched Inn England

- turning pubs into tourist inormation

centres. The pub has always been a hub

o social lie, and this is a brilliant evolution

o its role.

Within tourist pubs, cask ale plays a unique

role. Its recognised as a quintessentially

British icon, unique to the UK. Even British

drinkers who drink lager at home are more

likely to drink cask ale i they visit a country

pub on holiday.

Ale trails are popular throughout the

country. Cask Marque guides promoting

great real ale pubs throughout the UK,

requently need to be restocked in tourist

inormation centres. (These guides are

available rom www.caskmarque.co.uk)

Hotels see ale potential

Hotels in tourist areas that dont stock cask

ale are missing a major driver o tourist

custom. Not all hotels have the regular

throughput or cellar space to keep and

serve cask ale well. But in cases like this

bottle conditioned or other premium bottledales provide a neat solution.

Weve shown already that drinkers are

prepared to pay a premium or these

beers where stocked - the Connaught, an

exclusive hotel in Mayair, sells Schiehallion

at 8 a bottle!

Travelodge sponsors CAMRAs Champion

Bottled Beer o Great Britain Award,

announced each year at the Great British

Beer Festival. This year, the hotel chain is


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22

The Cask Beer Consumer

More people are drinking real ale - and theyre the kind of people any

profitable pub needs to attract.

More drinkers, with more to spend

- Number o people who have ever tried

cask ale has increased rom 35 to 50%.

- This has resulted in 400,000 new cask ale

drinkers in the last year.

- The number o women drinking cask ale

has doubled - to 1.3 million.

- Cask beer drinkers are more auent than

any other group o beer drinkers, less

anxious about their fnances and have

ewer big fnancial commitments. Theyrethereore happier to spend money than

other beer drinkers.

- Cask ale drinkers drink beer more oten

than other beer drinkers.

Growing interest

Trial and sampling programmes, beer

estivals, Cask Ale Week, the growth in

availability and diversity o cask ale and

increased media attention are all paying o:

the number o people who have ever tried

cask ale has increased rom 35% to 50%

year-on-year. The number o women who

have ever tried cask ale has doubled rom

15% to 30%.

Trial = conversion

One in six o adults now drink no alcohol at

all. The number o people who say they everdrink beer has allen rom 28 million to 27.8

million in the last year alone.

And yet, the number o people drinking cask

ale has increased rom 8.1 to 8.5 million.

This has been driven by a staggering

increase in the number o women who

say they now drink cask ale - more than

doubling year on year: Cask ale drinkers

thereore represent an increasing proportion

o the market: 31% o beer drinkers

now claim to drink cask ale, up rom 29%

a year ago.


23/44

23

Cask ale drinkers are afuent drinkers

Everyone is eeling the pinch in the credit

crunch. But 68% o cask ale drinkers are

social grade ABC1, compared to 52% o

non-cask beer drinkers and 55% o the

population as a whole.

On average they earn more - 46% earn

more than the national average amilyincome o 30,000, compared to 33% o

non-cask beer drinkers.

But recession makes everyone more

anxious - ewer than 10% are directly

aected by unemployment etc, but most

people become anxious and change their

spending habits. Spending is determined by

how happy people are with their income, as

much as what level it actually is.

74% o cask ale drinkers are comortable

or coping on their current income, versus

63% o non- cask ale beer drinkers.

Cask ale drinkers are at a liestage where

they have ewer outgoings - theyre less

likely to have young amilies, and more

likely to be independent. Again, this

means they are more likely to have higher

disposable income.

More people are drinking cask ale

Source:

TGI Jan-Dec 2008

Men Women0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,390

Numberofdr

inkers(000s)

631

7,187

1,353

6,000

7,000

8,000 2007

2008

How do you eel about your currentlevel o income?

Cask ale drinkers liestage means theyre more independent

Source:

TGI Jan-Dec 2008

Source:

TGI Jan-Dec 2008

Comortable

Fle

dglings

Flownthe

nest

Nest

builders

Pla

yschool

Parents

Sec

School

Parents

M

id-Life-

Independents

Unconstrained

couples

Hotel

parents

Sen

iorsole

d

ecision

makers

Empty

nesters

Coping Finding itdicult

Findingit very

dicult

70

0

80

20

90

40

100

60

110

80

120

100

133

85 1

11

67

83 1

10

162

151

110

80

129

123

125

116

119

104

101 1

10

93

67

79

1

06

88

77

94 102 1

10 1

12

index vs population

index vs population as a whole

130

120

140

140

160

180

Cask ale drinkers

No-cask beerdrinkers

Cask ale drinkers Non cask beerdrinkers


24/44


25/44

25

Whendoyoudrinkbeer?(inhome)

Source:

TGIJan-Dec2008

Ho

me:

with

ma

inmea

l

Ho

me:

with

frien

d/fa

mily

Ho

me:

relax

ing

alone

Ou

t:mea

l

atfrien

d/

family

s

ho

me

Ou

t:drin

k

atfrien

d/

family

s

ho

me0

1020

30

40

50

25

55

44 4

5

19

46

36

31 3

5

60

70

Caskaledrinkers

Noncaskbeerdrinkers

39


26/44


26

Focus: Cask Beer and Younger Drinkers

An old mans drink? Younger, affluent drinkers are entering the

cask beer market. But how can more of them be encouraged

to follow suit?

The cask ale liestage- 25-34 age group is increasingly the entry

point to cask beer, with a growing number

o drinkers in this age group.

- Cask beer orms part o a liestyle

change, as people begin to settle down

and seek higher quality ood and drink.

- Growing success at estivals and sporting

events highlights growing popularity withyounger drinkers.

Developing the taste

Received wisdom in the beer market

used to state that there was an automatic

progression o drinking tastes determined

by age: rom white to red wine, rom wine

and beer to white spirits, then dark spirits,

and rom cider to lager to ale as drinkersmove rom their late teens through to their

late thirties and early orties.

There is no longer any evidence o this

graduation - the frst generation o lager

drinkers are now nearing their dotage and

still drinking lager. Cask ale is still recruiting

drinkers - the number o people aged under

35 who drink cask ale has increased rom

1.6 to 1.7 million over the last year - but itdoesnt happen automatically.

Brewers need to understand why someyoung people are starting to drink cask, and

actively encourage more o them to do so.

18-24s: the drinkers-in-waiting

Over 17% o UK adults drink cask ale -

but only 9% o 18-24 year olds do - even

though 47% o them drink beer other than

real ale. Universities have very ew real ale

societies, and real ale has poor distribution

on campus. Venues with loud music andvertical drinking are not ideally suited to

real ale, which is a more mellow, laid back

drinking occasion. There are o course

exceptions - universities such as Shefeld

and Lancaster boast signifcant real ale

communities. But as a rule, these drinkers

are hard to recruit.

25-34s: the cask ale trialistsO the 1.7 million cask ale drinkers aged

under 35, 67% are aged 25-34. The

percentage o cask ale drinkers in each age

group doubles rom 7% among 18-24s to

14% or 25-34s.

This is the age when careers become

established, money becomes easier, and

tastes become more sophisticated. Drinkers

begin to move rom loud clubs and venuesto occasions that are more mellow and


27/44

27

relaxed. They also become moreinterested in premium quality ood

and drink, with a signifcant

upsurge in interest in armers

markets, organic ood, home

cooking and so on.

But positive though this is, still

only 15% o 25-34s drink cask ale,

compared with 47% drinking other

styles o beer. Although this fgures isnow almost in line with the average o

all age groups, theres clearly potential

to recruit many more drinkers.

Occasions or trial

People are more open to trying

new things when they are in new

circumstances. City-dwelling

drinkers who take weekend breaks inthe country are more likely to try the

local ale in a country pub than they

would at home. Holidays, sporting

events and music estivals are

special occasions when people are

more likely to break their routine.

Music estivals are selling

increasing volumes o real ale.

Glastonbury has real ale on all itsbars and one beer tent devoted

entirely to it. Wales Green Man

Festival in August 2009 had

a real ale and cider bar that

was the busiest bar on site. In

sport, Marstons this summer

introduced cask ale to cricket

venues, with great success.

Latitude

TheLatitu

deFestiva

linHenha

mPark,Su

olk,has

builtarep

utationa

saslightl

ymoreupm

arket

estivalt

hanGlast

onbury,wi

thacorea

udience

o25-44ye

ar-oldsra

therthan

under25s

.Hektor

Roussupp

liesreala

lestothe

beertent

sonsite.

In2008,theales

soldoutb

eoreany

otherdri

nk.

Accordin

gtoHektor,in20

09,Wesol

d33,192pi

nts

oale[to

atotale

stivalcrowdoa

pproximat

ely

12,000],wh

ichequat

estoover

4timesmorereal

aleperpe

rsonthan

Glastonb

ury.Thesu

ccesso

realalea

tLatitude

isdenit

elyanind

icatoro

theyoung

ercrowde

mbracing

drinkswit

hsome

favourin

them!

TheDevonshireCat,SheeldAsyoungpersonsvenuesgo,theDevCattakessome

beating:notonlyisitintheheartoSheeldsuniversityquarter,itsactuallyonthegroundfooroastudenthousingblock.Soitcomesasasurprisetosomethatitisoneotheundisputedbeer

shrinesinoneotheUKsmostale-riendlycities.Astunninglistooreignspecialitybeersandgenuinecontinentallagersisjoinedbytwelver

eal

alehandpumps-sixregularsandsixguests.Theregularsareamixolocalheroesandnationally

recognisedbrandsromregionalbreweries,while

guestsarerotatedoraconstantlychangingbut

balancedrangeostylesandstrengths.Wedenitelyseelotsopeoplecomingintothepubandtryingsomethingdierentorthersttime,saysassistantmanagerHannahBovey.Themainstreamissaturatedandalotopeoplearelookingorsomethingthatsgenuinelydierent.

Otenpeoplecometothebaranddontknowwhattheywant,andourstaaretrainedtoguidethem

throughtheselection.Peoplewhohaventtried

alebeoreotengooragoldenale,butthewhole

rangesellswell.Sometimesitsaboutstudentscominginwiththeirparents,whoareestablishedale

drinkers,butweseealotoexperimentationwith

youngpeopleontheirownaswell.


28/44


28

Focus: Cask Beer and Women

Women are driving the growth in what has often been perceived as a

very male market. There are specific barriers that prevent more women

from drinking beer in general - and cask ale is best beer style to bring

them in.

Women driving growth in cask drinkers

- Number o women who claim to have

ever tried cask ale has doubled.

- Number o women who claim to drink

cask ale nowadays has doubled.

- Women now account or one in six o all

cask beer drinkers.

- Women embrace more complex avour

and character - but have been put o by

a negative, macho image which is now

beginning to be overcome.

Why do British women think they

dont like beer

Only 37% o women ever drink beer,

compared to 77% o men. Women - 50%

o the population - account or only 13% o

beer consumed. This compares to 25% in

the US, and 44% in Spain.

So why dont British women like beer?

Research rom the BitterSweet partnership

a new group aiming to encourage women

to drink more beer - shows that women are

put o beer by a number o actors:

- Image - beer is seen as masculine and

chavvy compared to wine.

- Weight - women mistakenly believe beer

to be higher in calories than wine,

an equivalent sot drink or a large gin

and tonic.

- Taste - women believe they wont like

it i they try it.

- Presentation - many women dont like the

idea o drinking rom pints.

Overcoming the obstacles

- Image - Cask ale has none o the

macho, laddish, ootball-oriented image

characteristics o lager. Potentially, it

could be more acceptable to women.


29/44

29

- Weight - cask ale has ewer calories,

measure or measure, than wine, sot

drinks or spirits with mixers. It is also

less bloating than lager, because it has

no added gas.

- Taste - women are not araid o strong,

complex avours - ater all, thats what

they fnd in wine. They simply need to be

encouraged to try cask ale and fnd the

style they preer. The last year has seen a

great increase in sampling activity aimed

at women, with many events taking place

in Cask Ale Week on emALE day.The most requently heard comment at

events like this is I dont like beer, but

I love this.

- Presentation - the use o branded

glassware and hal and third-o-a-pint

glasses has increased, oering more

attractive presentation o cask beer.

- Partnering beer with ood - cask

beer is the perect partner or locally

sourced ood - resh, natural, with a wide

variety o tastes.

The results o this activity have

been remarkable:

- 30% o women now claim to have tried

cask ale - up rom 16% a year ago.

- And the number o women who now

claim to drink cask ale has doubled -

rom 630,000 to 1.3 million.

Ivealwaysdrunklagerorspirits,butearlierthisyearIwaspersuadedtotryRudgateRubyMild.Ienjoyedthetasteoadarkerbeerbecauseitseemedsweeterandullert

hanlager.Iwasaraidtotrycaskbeerbeore

becauseIwasntsurewhatthefavourwouldbelike.

SueRowley,37

Ialwaysassumed[ca

skbeer]wasabit

fatcomparedtobee

rslikelager-and

Ineverwentintore

alalepubs.NowI

lovestouts,porters

andmildsbecause

theyhaveadeeper,ullerf

avour.I

thinkalotowomen

dontdrinkreal

alebecauseoperce

ption-itsabit

unladyliketobesee

nwithapintglass.

Ialsoneverthought

ocaskbeerasa

drinkochoice.Ith

erehadbeenmore

emaleriendlypre

ss,andmorehigh

prolewomendrank

it,Iwouldhave

drunkit.

JoannaFrith,36


30/44


30

Meet the brewers

Cask ales unique strength is in the diversity of brewers who make

it, and the flavours and styles they create. Regional, local and

independent brewers each bring something different to the bar. Heres

a guide to how the market breaks down.

- The structure o the market continues toevolves as multinationals retreat to areas

o regional strength in their ale brands

and regionals, independents and locals

take over.

- Larger regionals provide broad investment

and support in the category and

are making cask beer the ocus o the

ale category.

- Smaller independent and local brewers

are growing in number and provide variety

and dierence.

- There is a long-term shit rom keg ale to

cask beer.

The shrinking giants

The old national brands such as JohnSmiths, Bass and Tetleys - all now owned

by multinational corporations ocusing

on mainstream lager brands - are in a

phase o managed decline. They receive

dwindling marketing support and survive on

historical reputation, name recognition and

large distribution deals, although they still

have strong ollowings in the regions they

originated in.

Regional brewers - lling the voidThe decline o the old giants leaves a big

gap that larger regional brewers such as

Adnams, Caledonian, Fullers, Greene King,

Marstons and Wells and Youngs are flling.

These are all brewers whose main ocus is

cask beer all are committed to investing in

and maintaining cask beer quality.

Building a premium image

Regional brewers provide investmentin cask beer in terms o marketing and

promotion, which raises the image o cask

beer as a whole:

- In 2008, 2.6 million was spent on

advertising ale. 90% o this spend was

on cask ale.

- This is increasingly driven by the activitieso the larger regionals - Fullers and Greene

King now heavily outspend John Smiths.

Other national brands such as Tetleys,

Boddingtons and Bass have no recorded

advertising spend or several years.

- Ad spend in 2009 to date already exceeds

3 million - a strong increase in support in

the midst o a deep recession. Again this is

primarily driven by continued spend romGreene King and Fullers, as well as the

high profle relaunch o Courage Best rom

new owners Wells and Youngs.


31/44

31

- Sponsorship is also a major marketinggrowth area or cask ale brewers, but

sadly we were unable to obtain reliable

spend fgures or this. Greene King IPA

gives heavy support to English Rugby, and

Fullers supports gol. In 2009, Marstons

sold an additional one million pints on the

back o its sponsorship o the England

team over their triumphant Ashes series,

oering ans the chance to win tickets, co-

creating a limited edition cricket-themedjar o Marmite made with Marstons

Pedigree, and encouraging good-natured

banter between ans with satirical ads.

Adnams has increased its involvement

with Ipswich Town and Newmarket Races,

and is increasingly visible at grassroots

events such as County Shows and Food

and Drink estivals. This has in part

contributed to a signifcant businessturnaround, with a 6% decline at the end

o 2008 becoming 2% growth by June

2009, with growth coming almost entirely

rom the ree trade.

The combined eect o all this activity is

that the cask beer handpull increasingly

symbolizes the whole ale category. While

smoothow beers still account or more than

hal o total ale volume, they are increasinglyinvisible. Cask beer is creating a new, resh,

premium image or ale in general.

This image appeals to more auent drinkers,

and helps increasingly to relegate the

ale drinkers old-man-in-a-at-cap image

to the past.

Support on the ground

The larger regional brewers also providetraining schemes helping people keep and

serve cask beer in perect condition. Most

large regional brewers give cellar training

throughout their estates, both in the breweryand in pub. Cask Marque has centres o

excellence throughout the country where

they train many o the major pub retailers

as well as individual licensees to gain the

BII award in Cellar Management. Apart rom

training, its oten the regional brewers who

invest in the equipment needed to serve

cask ale, and branded glassware and point

o sale material to enhance its presentation.

Ale Advertising Spend 2008

Fullers 24% Shepherd Neame 3%

Wells & Young 9% Moorhouses 2%

John Smiths 8% St Austell 1%

Theakstons 6% Careys 1%

Belhaven 6% Smithwicks 1%

Adnams 4% Other 2%

Martons 4% Greene King 29%

Source:

Nielsen Ad Dynamix/

Manning Gottlieb

Media


32/44


32

Local and smaller independents - the

new wave

O almost 700 breweries now operating

in the UK, 450 are members o SIBA, the

Society o Independent Brewers, ormed in

1980 to represent the interests o smaller

independent brewers and to help them get

wider distribution or their beers.

O SIBA members:

- 87% brew less than 5000 hectolitres a

year, and are thereore classed as small or

microbreweries.

- 61% have been ounded since the turn o

the millennium.

Thats an enormous momentum in terms

o new breweries. Its been uelled by

progressive beer duty (PBD), a measure that

allows smaller breweries to claim back tax

paid to Customs and Excise.

Some small brewers have been criticized or

entering the industry just to take advantage

o this tax break - and its true that not every

microbrewer creates good beer. But many o

these new breweries are serious businesses.

Four out o fve small brewers claim the

savings rom PBD go straight back into

building the business. In 2009:

- 81% are spending PBD money on new

equipment.

- 82% are spending it on marketing.

- 75% are spending to increase

brewing capacity.

SIBA members also advertise locally, help

improve the presentation o beers at point o

sale and support CAMRA beer estivals etc,

but do not have the same national ocus as

the larger regional brewers.

SIBA demonstrates its commitment to

encouraging its members to build long-term,

viable businesses by not only holding awards

or the best beer rom its membership, but

also the Small Business Awards that reward

marketing and promotional initiatives.

Meet the brewers continued


33/44

33

Richness in variety

Cask beers strength is the variety o styles

and avours within it. The British crat beer

market is thriving thanks to the interplay

between established breweries keeping vital

traditions alive, providing long term stability

and expertise, and young start-ups seeking

to create something new, sometimes even

pushing the boundaries o what beer can be.

O course the lines between categories

become blurred - some microbreweries are

growing to become regional players, while

at the same time, inspired by their new

competition, regionals are creating new

beers, pushing into new styles, and investing

in grassroots marketing activity as well as

broader advertising and sponsorship.

In truth there are many dierent styles

and sizes o brewer and this section

is an oversimplifcation. Weve marked

out a continuum on which many dierent

types o brewery sit.


34/44


34

Stocking and serving the perfect cask beer range

Cask ale takes a little more effort to keep well than other beers, but the

results are worth it. Heres everything you need to know in order to

serve great cask beer.

Getting it right- I you dont have the acilities or the

throughput to serve well-kept cask ale,

dont stock it!

- Stock the right number o beers or

your size.

- Stock the right mix o brands and styles.

- Make the most o attractive new onts,stylish glassware and point o sale

promotional material.

- Eort invested in keeping and serving cask

ale more than pays or itsel in terms o

better quality beer, meaning less wasted

beer, a better reputation, and ultimately

more custom.

Perecting the optimal mix o cask ales

Not every pub is suitable or cask ale. I

you have inadequate cellar acilities, low

throughput, or simply dont attract the

right customer base, its essential to think

twice beore rushing into the market.

Serving badly kept cask ale can only

damage both the publicans and the brewers

reputation, turning consumers o both the

pub and the category.

I youre confdent that cask ale can beneftyour pub, theres a stunning variety o

breweries and beer styles to choose rom.

Thats part o the appeal - but it can also be

bewildering i youre stocking cask or the

frst time. Its important to start small with

tried and trusted brands, beore becoming

more adventurous.

Tried and trusted brands

- Have broader recognition and areincreasingly seem as mainstream beers.

- Thereore oer reassurance to drinkers who

are new to the category, unamiliar with the

product and/or are accustomed to using

advertising to help them make a choice.

- Larger regional breweries, who produce

most brands wed describe as tried andtrusted, also have the inrastructure to

help with installation and maintenance o

equipment. Most oer cellar and technical

support and run training schemes on how

to keep and serve cask ale.

- In an area where a local microbrewery or

smaller regional, amily or independent

brewery has a particular ame, their brands

may be tried and trusted in that localitytoo. For example, drinkers in Bristol may

perceive Butcombe as a big, established,


35/44

35

sae brand, while drinkers in the North East

who are just as knowledgeable about beer

may see it as an unusual choice. Its vital to

know the local market.

Local and microbrewery brands

- Oer variety and diversity o beers.

Being smaller, they can experiment more

and oer a more eclectic mix o beers.

(Although regional brewers increasingly

do this with seasonal and limited edition

beers too).

- Thereore attract experienced ale drinkerswho tend to always be on the lookout

or something dierent. These are the

highest spenders in the category and will

routinely look or the guest ale. Theyre an

attractive audience, but they avour pubs

that have an established reputation or

ale. A bad pint served in a pub known or

the quality o its ale will be blamed on the

brewer. A bad pint in an unamiliar ale pub

will be blamed on the publican.

- Compared to lager, all ale is seen is more

artisanally produced, more local, more

ethical. But within this, smaller, more local

breweries are avoured by drinkers who

want to support local businesses, cut

down on ood/beer miles, or simply want to

sample the variety o local produce in any

given part o the country.

So what should you stock?

Research shows this depends on how much

you sell, or think youll sell.

The worst mistake a publican can make is to

suddenly stock a wide range o ales when the

demand hasnt yet been proven - no one alegets the throughput, so quality suers across

the board, so no one buys the beers - an

inescapable vicious circle.

The ollowing table recommends the optimal

number o handpulls based on the volumes

o ale you serve. This should guarantee

enough throughput to keep quality high.

There are o course ale shrines that stock

as many as ten hand pumps - but they only

succeed in this when either the pub or the

publican already has a amous reputation or

great cask beer.


36/44


36

Stocking and serving the perfect cask beer range continued

So what types o beers should be on

those pumps?

A tried and trusted session ale. Between

3.5 and 4.5%. A recognised brand in your

locality, whether thats a widely recognised

leading brand rom a big regional brewer,

or a local hero with a big reputation in a

specifcally defned area.

A more premium, select beer. Higher ABV

- 4.2% or above. Either a permanent brand

or a rotating guest beer.

A guest beer rom a small independentor microbrewer, on a rotating basis,

session or premium.

A seasonal beer, such as a golden or

summer ale, or winter ale. Increasingly, this

could be rom a microbrewer or a regional,

but either way it will have an element o

unamiliarity about it.

Every pub is dierent and experimentation

always yields results. But the lessons

here - learned rom independent research

conducted or both Marstons and Wells and

Youngs - is to start sae and build variety as

cask business grows.

Promotion at point o saleAs in all walks o lie, presentation is

everything. Cask drinkers may claim

taste is more important. But serve beer

badly in an old, scratched, warm glass with

oam pouring down the sides, and drinkers

will be disappointed.

Cask beer producers know their drinkers are

auent and discerning, and new drinkers

raised on lager demand an attractive image

as well as great taste. Cask brewers are

thereore investing in ensuring their beers

pass muster. Get it right, and it raises the

image o the pub as a whole.

Revitalising cask beer dispense

The real ale handpull is distinctive and

unique. To many drinkers, its a symbol o

traditional crat and quality, with an unrivalledlineage on the bar going back 200 years. Its

not going to disappear any time soon.

Average sales o Cask Ales Per Week

No. o

hand

pulls

1

2

3

4

0-18

gallons/

week

19-36

gallons/

week

37-54

gallons/

week

55

gallons/

or more

week


37/44

37

But to others, its old ashioned and dated.

The beauty o cask beer is its diversity, and

several brewers are introducing innovations

in the traditional cask ale ont.

Central to these is the idea o illuminated

onts. Lager drinkers are accustomed to

seeing chunky, brightly lit onts that can

make a handpull and pumpclip seem

recessive by comparison. For brands aiming

to tempt lager drinkers into the ale category,

competing in terms o visibility is essential.

The new Black Sheep

ont leaves the traditional

handpull dispense

system unchanged, but

centres it in a chunkyLED illuminated ont that

stands out on the bar,

marrying tradition and

modernity. Where its

gone in, it has increased

beer sales by around

12-15%, and is now being rolled out beyond the

companys local estate.

The new Bombardier

ont goes urther.

Research conducted byWells & Youngs showed

that the iconic handpull

was indeed irreplaceable.

So instead, its been

ramed by a oot-high

illuminated chrome

surround which puts cask

beer dispense on a par with bigger, brighter lager onts

and is more appropriate than a traditional handpull in

more modern, stylish bars. early trials show an average

sales increase o 19% in test outlets. One manager o

Yatess in Nottingham said, Im ully behind it. I you

ask me i I want to keep it or get rid o it, Id fght to try

to keep it!

Greene King haslaunched a new Cask

Revolution ont. Here,

chrome design and

illumination also eature,

making the ont look

more contemporary,

but in addition the

actual dispense o the

beer is moved rom

below to above the bar,

adding a touch o theatre to the pour. Drinkers can

choose between a northern-style pint with a creamythick head and a crisper, southern style. Seamus

OKane, manager o Williams Wine and Ale House in

Whitechapel, London, has seen burgeoning interest in

cask beer since he had the ont installed, saying The

pump really stands out on the bar and encourages

people to enquire about the beer. Early results suggest

a sales increases o between 5 and 50% across the

700 quality pubs in which it has been installed, with

many new drinkers particularly women being

attracted to cask beer or the frst time.

Surely the next twelve months will see many

more cask beer brands making dramatic

improvements to their presence on the bar.

Whats the most important actor in infuencing a drinkers

choice o brand ?

Source:

Box Marketing research or

Wells & Youngs, May 2009

Taste

47.8

34

Be

erquality

22

11

Locally

sourced

10

0.5

Price

6.7

12.9

Fro

ma

hand

pull

3.8

0

Strength

1.9 4

.8

Cask ale drinkers

Lager drinker

Image/

eye-

catching

font

36.8

7.2

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70


38/44


38

Stocking and serving the perfect cask beer range continued

Glassware: making beer look beautiul

Historically, among label-conscious drinkers

bottles were seen as more stylish than

draught products because with a label,

people could see what you were drinking, that

you had made a discerning choice, whereas

pints were simply anonymous brown or

blonde liquids.

Many brewers are now investing in branded,

bespoke glassware:

- Making cask beer look more stylish and eel

more special to order.

- Glasses are oten shaped and styled

to accentuate the colour and aroma

o the beer.

Great design in glassware is also challenging

the dominance o the pint glass. Standard

hal pints dont really appeal to either

established or potential beer drinkers.

Stemmed and shaped glassware can make

a hal pint look attractive.

Third o a pint measures are also gaining

much wider distribution, encouraging trial o

a wider selection o beers, particularly strong

beers that are less suitable in pints.

Elegantly designed smaller glasses are vital

to overcoming the main obstacle preventing

more women trying cask beer - an overtlymasculine image.

Promotional ideas and initiatives

Lager tends to rely on large advertising and

promotional activities to create interest, but

cask ales strength is its grassroots nature. It

lends itsel to many promotional initiatives that

are easy to implement on a small budget.

- CAMRA Good Beer Guide - released every

year with listed pubs chosen by local

CAMRA branches.

- Try beore you buy - samples given away

ree WILL pay themselves back.

- Chalk boards - advertising guest ales is justas eective as promoting specials rom the

ood menu.

- Ale estivals - creating your own estival

is a proven driver o ootall and local

media coverage.

- Sta training - its a common rerain that

sta dont stay long enough and are not

paid enough to train. The ipside is that

training in cask ale dispense can increase

pride and job satisaction and increase

tenure o talented sta.

- Meet the brewer - many brewers are happy

to spend evenings in a pub talking to

consumers about their beers.

- Cask Ale Week - participation in the frstyears event was proven to drive volumes

and premiumise the overall beer product

mix on the bar.


39/44


40/44


40

Pricing: why settle or a lower margin on apremium product?

Cask beer is a premium, crated product,

drunk by auent, upmarket drinkers.

Historically this hasnt always been the case,

so cask ale tends to have a lower price than

lager - even than keg ale.

Cask beers lower margin versus other beers

is oten cited by publicans as the main reasonnot to stock it. But this doesnt have to be the

case. Cask ale drinkers want value or money

like anyone else, but:

- 62% o cask ale drinkers agree with the

statement Its worth paying extra or good

quality beer

- Only 42% o non-cask ale beer drinkers

agree with the same statement.(8)

Most brewers frmly believe that cask could

support a higher price relative to other beers

than it currently has - inviting publicans to

create more proft.

Product care: Top tips on keeping and

serving great cask ale

Ordering

Order the correct size o cask that will allowyou to sell it in three days ater beng placed

on sale. Any longer than this, and the beer

will start to lose its condition and suer

compromised quality.

Cellar temperature

Whoever said cask beer should be kept at

room temperature did so when the average

room was much cooler than in todays age o

universal central heating. Cask ale should bekept consistently at an ideal cellar temperature

o 11-13 degrees Celsius.

StillagingCasks should be stillaged on the day o

delivery or three days, allowing the yeast to

drop so the beer becomes clear and sparkling.

Pegging and venting

All casks should be vented with a sot porous

peg 2-6 hours ater delivery. This is actually the

fnal part o the brewing process, bringing the

beer to its ideal condition.

Tapping

Tap all casks 24-48 hours beore they goon sale, always using a clean tap to prevent

microorganisms rom inecting the beer.

Sampling

Sample beer rom the cask every day -

i theres any problem with it, pulling it through

to the bar simply wastes beer.

Line cleaning

The time and money costs o cleaning lines

regularly dont just hamper the taste o theproduct. They can cause obbing and cloudy

beer, which loses money. Any time and money

costs in cleaning lines regularly - once a week -

is more than saved by minimizing wasted beer.

Glassware

Ensure glassware is clean, ree o detergent

and scratches. This doesnt just aect the

appearance o the beer - a clean glass allows

proper head ormation and retention, and dirty

glasses can badly aect the taste o the beer.Glassware needs to be renovated as over time

beer leaves a flm which aects appearance

and gives poor head retention.

More details can be ound with major

regional brewers, at www.cask-marque.co.uk,

and in CAMRAs Guide to Cellarmanship

(CAMRA books).

(8) Source: TGI 2008


41/44

41

Conclusion: where next?

A brighter outlook

As this report went to press, newspapers

were predicting the end o recession. There

will be a signifcant delay between banks

and stock markets returning to normal and

people on the street eeling the eect. But its

reasonable to expect economic conditions to

improve rather than deteriorate in 2010-11.

The beer and pub industry will continue to

ace obstacles - continued ocus on binge

drinking and alcohol consumption generally

will obscure the truth o the responsible

drinking majority, and continue to increase

pressure or urther restrictions and legislation

against alcohol marketing and retailing.

And we have to hope that the cruel,

pernicious beer duty escalator - currently set

to ramp up tax on beer at 2% ahead o the

rate o ination until 2012 - is ended, either

by this government fnally seeing sense at the

damage it is doing to a vital sector o the UK

economy, or by a new government ater the

2010 general election.

But people will start to go out more, and will

return to the pub - perhaps not as oten or in

as large numbers - but we expect to see the

sharp decline in overall beer volumes continue

to bottom out.

Within beer, beore the recession we were

witnessing consumer trends that uel a cask

ale revival - interest in artisanal produce,locally sourced products, and more complex

and diverse avours. Now, trends analysts

are seeing a return to simpler pleasures, a

rejection o consumption or its own sake,

and renewed interest in traditional pursuits

- camping has become glamping; many o

2009s hottest new bands are heavily olk-

tinged; and the years best-selling cookbooks

all centre around the notion o simple, rugal

gastronomy, using good quality but cheap,

simple, locally sourced ingredients. This

behaviour is inspired by the recession, but is

highly likely to continue ater it. Discovery o

cask ale is simply one more acet o this trend.

The uture o beer

The pub trade press has started to reer to the

death o lager. This is as much an overreactionas the predicted death o real ale a ew years

ago, but is nonetheless revealing.

Drinkers demand innovation, excitement,

new interest. Lager traditionally supplied this,

but in the last ten years its only really given

us extra-cold dispense. Cider is the success

story o the decade, completely revitalized as

a category. Its still in growth, but or Magners

- the brand that inspired this revolution - times

are increasingly tough. People are moving on

to smaller, more eclectic brands.

Cask beer is ideally positioned to be the next

big thing. It fts consumer trends. It seems -

suddenly - ull o innovation. But its return to

growth will not happen automatically. Cask

beer requires a commitment to both style and

substance, and a little extra eort. But themarket is there. And this report proves that

there are fnancial rewards or catering to it.


42/44


42

Cask ale drinkers Regular Occasional All

cask ale drinkers cask ale drinkers drinkers

2007 2008 2007 2008 2007 2008

Men 6365 6651 565 536 6930 7187

Women 578 1234 53 118 631 1353

Total 7446 7886 640 654 8086 8540

AB 42.7 34.1 42.1 22.8 2

C1 25.8 31.4 26.2 29.2 28.8

C2 18.6 15.4 18.4 24.2 21

DE 12.8 19.1 13.3 23.8 23.5

18-24 6.5 8.7 6.6 15 12.6

25-34 13 19.7 13.5 18.7 15.5

35-44 18.4 24 18.9 21.3 18.1

45-54 21.8 25 22.1 16.6 16.1

55-64 19.5 12.7 19 12.3 14.4

65+ 20.1 5.2 19 13.3 19.7

Median age 50 42 49 43 46

Source: TGI 2008

Regular

cask ale

drinkers

Occasional

cask ale

drinkers

All cask ale

drinkers

Non-

cask beer

drinkers

Population

Appendix: the cask ale drinker


43/44

43

Glossary

Explaining the sometimes confusing terminology

surrounding cask beer.

Ale:

Generally recognized today as meaning beer that

has been brewed with a brisk, warm ermentation

during which the yeast sits at the top o the vessel - a

top-ermented beer. Served between 11-13 degrees.Oten dark brown as opposed to lagers gold, but not

necessarily - golden ales are increasingly popular and

ale can be red or very dark too. Also commonly known

as bitter thanks to its pronounced hoppy character.

Bitter:

See ale.

Cask ale:

Beer that has not been fltered or pasteurised, and has

live yeast in the cask. This means the beer is undergoing

a slow, secondary ermentation that contributes greater

depth o avour and a natural sot carbonation.Cask beer:

A term interchangeable with cask ale that is elt by some

to be a more appropriate description: although the

vast majority o cask beers are ales, its quite possible

- increasingly so - to fnd cask-conditioned stouts and

even lagers. This term recognizes that cask conditioning

is a process rather than something pertaining to one

specifc beer style.

Cyclops:

Named because o the sight-smell-taste graphics that

create an image o a one-eyed ace, this is a system that

clearly and simply describes the taste and character o

beer in a ew words and graphics, giving both bar sta

and consumers a ramework or understanding what a

given beer will be like.

Hand pump/handpull:

Archaically known as the beer engine, a system that

draws beer rom the cellar, straight rom the cask, by

gravity. A glass chamber creates a vacuum that pulls

the beer up through the pipe and them pumps it into

the glass. Because most beers are now in pressurised

kegs and served with either CO2 or nitrogen, only cask

beer is served with handpulls. The handpull is thereoresymbolic o the care and tradition surrounding cask beer.

Keg beer:

Beer that has been pasteurized and/or fltered to remove

any yeast, beore being sealed in a pressurized

container. It is then dispensed with the aid o

CO2, nitrogen or a mix o the two to give fzz orsmoothow texture.

Lager:

Beer that has been brewed with a slow, cold

ermentation and - traditionally - conditioned at low

temperatures or several weeks (the word lager is

derive rom the German to store). Usually gold, but can

be amber or even black.

Progressive Beer Duty (PBD):

System whereby small brewers can reclaim beer duty

paid back rom Customs & Excise depending on their

annual volume. Designed as a fnancial incentive to helpsmall brewers grow, it has made a major contribution to

the huge growth in the number o small crat breweries

in the UK today.

Real ale:

A term or cask ale/cask beer coined by CAMRA in

the early 1970s. A reaction against the industrial mass-

production methods that rose to dominance

in the 1960s, it recognizes that cask conditioning

is the traditional, crat method o making beer.

Smoothfow beer:

Dispensed with nitrogen at cold temperatures or a

smooth, silky texture. Guarantees greater consistency

o product at the expense o avour and character.

Stillage:

Device by which cask are held steady on their sides so

that fnings and yeast can collect in the belly o the cask

and allow the beer to clear.

Stout:

Technically an ale, in that its brewed with top-ermenting

yeast, stout has eectively become a separate beer style

in the eyes o drinkers. Guinness dominates the market

and is brewed with charred barley or a deep roast

character, and dispensed with nitrogen or its creamybody. Stout doesnt have to be served this way, but this

image o it defnes the category.


44/44

Further Information

The Cask Report is supported by:

Adnams

Suolk-based regional brewer.

www.adnams.co.uk

The Cask Marque Trust

Non-proft organization championing cask beer

quality. www.cask-marque.co.uk

The Campaign or Real Ale (CAMRA)

Europes most successul consumer pressure

group. www.camra.org.uk

The Independent Family Brewers o Britain

(IFBB). Body representing 28 o the UKs amily-

owned brewers. www.amilybrewers.co.uk

The Society o Independent Brewers (SIBA)

Representing over 450 small, local and

independent brewers. www.siba.co.uk

CaledonianEdinburgh-based regional brewer, now owned

by Heineken. www.caledonian-brewery.co.uk

Fullers

London-based regional brewer. www.ullers.co.uk

Greene King

East Anglia-based regional brewer.

www.greeneking.co.uk

Marstons

Midlands-based regional brewer.www.marstons.co.uk

Wells & Youngs

Bedordshire-based regional brewer.

www.wellsandyoungs.co.uk

For press enquiries please contact:

Ros Shiel 07841 694137

[email protected]

The Cask Report is written each year by Pete

Brown, author o several books about beer, and

regular contributor on the subject o beer to trade

and consumer press, TV and radio. Pete also has

a background in beer marketing. He has no ormal

afliation with any o the companies or bodies

backing the report.

http://petebrown.blogspot.com

Data Sources

The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA)

www.beerandpub.com

Brulines www.brulines.com

CGA Strategy www.cgastrategy.co.uk

Nielsen www.uk.nielsen.com

Target Group Index (TGI) www.bmrb-tgi.co.uk

Special thanks to The Blue Lion, 133 Grays Inn

Road, London WC1X 8TZ

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